* BannedEpisode: For a period of time in the 1960s, networks stopped airing the final season episode "The Ricardos Visit Cuba", due to the then-strained relationship between the U.S. and Cuban governments.* BeamMeUpScotty:** Though Ricky entered at least one scene with "Lucy, I'm home!", it wasn't in the memetically-overblown "LU-CYYYY, I'M HO-OOOME!" manner people are fond of affecting when doing an imitation of him.** "Lucy...you got some splanin' to do!" was created by parodies long after the end of the show, although Ricky does say "Lucy! Splain!" in the episode "Charm School".* TheDanza: Lucille Ball as Lucy Ricardo. She did the exact same thing in her two later shows, despite being different characters. She also always gave her character a last name containing "'''ar'''" as a tribute to Desi '''Ar'''naz: Ric'''ar'''do (''I Love Lucy''), C'''ar'''michael (''The Lucy Show''), C'''ar'''ter (''Here's Lucy''), and B'''ar'''ker (''Life With Lucy'').** According to [[WordOfGod Lucy herself]], though, she did the 'ar' combo on the advice of Carole Lombard, who said the double 'ar' combination in her own name brought good luck. Lucy kept up the tradition after Lombard died as a tribute to her.** Vivian Vance (who played Ethel) grew tired of fans calling her by that name on the street. When she appeared on Ball's subsequent shows, she stipulated that her character be named Vivian (usually called Viv).** Cousin Ernie, played by Tennessee Ernie Ford.* FunnyCharacterBoringActor:** While Lucille Ball is known as one of the funniest women on television, she actually didn't think she was that good at improvisation, and would often rehearse a scene endlessly until she thought she had it just right.** Contrasted with Desi, who was not a professional comedian but was naturally funny and had a knack for improvisation.* HostilityOnTheSet: Vivian Vance and William Frawley, who played Ethel and Fred Mertz.** The contempt grew to such extremes that Vance would often memorize her scripts just to see how much screen time she had with Frawley.** Despite the hostilities, both were said to be professionals on the set and were noted for their amazing chemistry with each other on screen, to the point that when it first came out, fans of the show could not believe it. However, part of why they worked on screen together was in part because the pair played an embodiment of LikeAnOldMarriedCouple.* LaughTrack: The show didn't have one  it was famously filmed in front of a live audience. However, the laughter you hear here would be used as the basis for canned laughter in sitcoms for decades to come.** Logistics prevented studio audiences from attending several filmings, including "Ricky Minds the Baby" and "Desert Island." The former had no audience because the producers were afraid of startling the infant actors playing Little Ricky, the latter because of the number of sets. These episodes were subsequently screened for audiences, and their laughter recorded to the audio track.* MissingEpisode: The Christmas episode was not included in syndication packages in order to prevent the episode from airing out of season, and also because of a supposed lack of interest in [[ClipShow Clip Shows]]. From 1990-1994, CBS had a yearly tradition of airing the episode in color as a special, which they revived in 2013 with [[TechnologyMarchesOn improved colorization.]]** The {{Pilot}} was not intended for public broadcast, but it might also qualify. After CBS approved the show, Lucy and Desi gave a kinescope of the pilot to their friend Pepito Perez, who guest-starred. Since no one saw it afterward except for Pepito, his wife and their friends, archivists spent decades assuming it had been lost to time. Pepito's widow finally brought it out of hiding in 1990. It took over 20 more years for CBS to find the original 35mm negative for the pilot.*** Almost the entire plot was [[RecycledScript reused for an early episode]], with Pepito replaced by a considerably ''less'' creepy clown.* RealLifeRelative: As mentioned, Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz really were married for the entire length of the series, though their marriage was failing towards the end and they ultimately divorced in 1960. Had the marriage continued, the show would've as well.* RedScare: Lucille Ball almost fell victim to it in real life  she was known to despise Vice President UsefulNotes/RichardNixon, and had given a private testimony to the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee) the day "The Girls Go Into Business" was filmed. She was cleared, and was one of the lucky ones to not get put onto the Hollywood Blacklist.** When he learned HUAC was after Lucy, Desi went in front of the studio audience before one episode began taping and gave a defiant defense of Lucy, insisting that, "the only thing red about Lucy is her hair and even ''that's'' not legitimate!"** Oddly enough, after their divorce, Desi spent a great deal of time in Cuba  apparently with Fidel Castro's blessing, and in direct violation of the embargo. It's worth noting that Desi came from the comparatively small wave of pre-1959 Cuban expats who fled rightwing dictator Fulgencio Batista (rather than the far larger wave that fled the communists); thus, he had no particular animosity toward Fidel.* {{Rerun}}: As mentioned, the show's creators invented this trope.** And made a damn ''fortune'' off it. CBS didn't know how much money could be made off of the reruns, and so they gave all the rights to Lucy and Desi. Enough for them to run their own major studio empire and be the executives in charge of shows like ''Series/{{Gunsmoke}}'', ''Series/MissionImpossible'', ''Series/TheUntouchables'', and ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. Lucille and Desi's family still makes royalties off the show, and considering it's never been out of syndication, well...** Lucy has been quoted to say "[[XanatosGambit We figured we couldn't lose. We'd either make money off the deal, or at least we'd have the best set of home movies in the world.]]"** Brought up at one of the various award shows she appeared in as a presenter. Creator/BobHope jokes that the show probably airs in Heaven. She quips "Well if they are, they're not paying for them!"* ThrowItIn: The 1952 episode "Cuban Pals" features Ricky attempting to translate Lucy's questions for his Cuban friends. Desi Arnaz mistakenly translates one question in English, resulting in him doubling over in laughter. ** Another is the scene in Hollywood when Lucy's putty nose catches on fire and she dunks it in her coffee cup to extinguish it. The script had called for her to remove the nose and dunk it; her leaving it on and lowering her face into the coffee was an ad-lib. It's notable because Lucille Ball was a very strict perfectionist who rehearsed scenes tirelessly, and that was one of the few times where a ThrowItIn moment wasn't thrown out.*** It probably didn't hurt that, reportedly, Lucy was very concerned about the safety of a lit wick so close to her face, and figured she better not push her luck with a second take.* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Some unintentional examples really ''really'' scream "TheFifties":** The candy factory showing Lucy and Ethel working, handling food, ''without gloves''. That would ''not'' happen today.[[note]] High-level chefs to this day still do not wear gloves, but they're trained to know how to avoid contamination. In places like candy factories, gloves are required.[[/note]]** Telephones. Notice how every telephone in the series looks the same? That's because the show was made back when AT&T required you to use their phones, which came in two styles, both black. It took no less than the Supreme Court to step in and say third-party phones were legal.*** Also the phone numbers. "Circle-7" and "Murray Hill-5" make absolutely no sense to modern audiences. The latter of course is still occasionally used instead of FiveFiveFive as a ShoutOut to this show.** Almost any mention of money. Occasionally a joke simply doesn't work anymore thanks to inflation completely ruining the frame of reference. It's hard to understand Ricky getting angry at Lucy for spending so much money on something since, at this point, everything on the show sounds incredibly cheap.*** Inverted for the episodes set in Paris. When the show was made, France was still using the old Franc, the value of which had utterly collapsed thanks to two world wars  the going exchange rate at the time was 350 francs to the dollar and would soon rise. France switched it out for the New Franc in 1960, which had much saner exchange rates (around [=7F=1USD=] at the time they adopted the Euro).*** Of course the episodes set in the UK make reference to UsefulNotes/OldBritishMoney, which wasn't "old" then; Sterling would be decimalized in 1971, fifteen years after the episodes aired.** One particular sequence  where Lucy gets stuck at the border between France and Italy and can't cross to join everyone else  makes no sense in post-Schengen Europe.** When preparing to drive to Hollywood, Fred buys a 1923 Cadillac, which Lucy and Ethel treat as TheAllegedCar (and to be fair, it isn't in the best condition). Today that car, even in the less-than-ideal shape it was in in that episode, would be worth a ''lot''.** As mentioned above, the episodes where the cast visit Cuba seem absolutely bizarre in an era where Americans have been banned from travelling to the island for over half a century and counting. The regular series ended two years before Castro and the communists took over (even if the ''Comedy Hours'' are included, the series wrapped a year before the embargo happened). The plot ''Comedy Hour'', broadcast on April 1, 1960, revolves around Ricky possibly returning to Cuba to run a family tobacco plantation.* WhatCouldHaveBeen:** Desi Arnaz demanded that the second act of the episode "Lucy Tells The Truth" be rewritten. The plot involves Ricky, Fred and Ethel betting Lucy that she could not tell the truth for 24 hours. The original second act involved an IRS agent coming to the apartment to audit Ricky, and Lucy being forced to tell him about Ricky cheating on his taxes. Desi balked at the idea of Ricky cheating on his taxes, and a new second act was written.** "Lucy Goes to Scotland" would have aired in full color, if not for CBS's inability to afford color film. The episode was later colorized in 2007, as a bonus feature for a complete series DVD set of ''I Love Lucy'' and the ''Series/LucyDesiComedyHour''.** After the Hollywood Arc was over, Desi suggested a SpinOff taking place in their Hollywood hotel with Bobby the Bellboy as the main character as he deals with guests (he'd be given a female costar to play his girlfriend and get him involved in hijinx a la Lucy), but nothing came of it. With this in mind, the episodes featuring Bobby could be considered a PoorlyDisguisedPilot.** Toward the end of the run, Desi Arnaz asked William Frawley and Vivian Vance if they would like their own SpinOff show after ''I Love Lucy'''s cancellation. Frawley readily agreed, sensing a very financially lucrative opportunity. Vance declined, however, in large part because of the hatred she and Frawley had for each other both on and off the set. ** Lucille Ball originally wanted the roles of Fred and Ethel to be played by longtime friends and comic foils Gale Gordon and Bea Benaderet. However, at the time, Gordon was already committed to play DeanBitterman Osgood Conklin on ''Radio/OurMissBrooks'', while Benaderet was committed to play NosyNeighbor Blanche Morton on ''Radio/TheBurnsAndAllenShow'' (Gordon would later act as Lucy's foil on ''The Lucy Show''). Another longtime friend of Ball's, Barbara Pepper, who later went on to play Doris Ziffel on ''Series/GreenAcres'', was also considered to play Ethel. Unfortunately, Pepper had at that time been drinking very heavily after her husband, Craig Reynolds, passed away in a tragic motorcycle accident. With Frawley, whose fondness for the bottle was legendary, already cast as Fred, Desi Arnaz felt he couldn't take the chance of having the responsibility of keeping two people in line.* YouLookFamiliar: Elizabeth Patterson first played Mother Willoughby in "The Marriage License," then returned during the second season to play babysitter Mrs. Trumbull.** Charles Lane also had multiple appearances, usually as a different clerk at a government office or business each time. He played an excellent hard-nosed bureaucrat, and in "Lucy Has a Baby" appeared as an expectant father.** Mary Jane Croft played a former classmate of Lucy's in "Lucy Is Envious" and a nosy airplane passenger in "Return Home from Europe" before becoming a semi-regular as Connecticut neighbor Betty Ramsey in season 6.** Frank Nelson played eight different characters, including radio host Freddy Filmore and Connecticut neighbor Ralph Ramsey. He was the "Yyyyyyyyyessssss?" guy.** Ball's close friend Barbara Pepper appeared in eight episodes, each time as a different character.** The actor who played the Ricardo's milkman in one New York episode returned to play Bobby the Bellboy in the Hollywood episodes.** Lucy fails to notice that the man she hired to teach the foursome proper English looks exactly like the guy she sold her furniture to a few months earlier.** Character Actor Jay Novello played a superstitious boss of Ricky, a timid man who witnessed a murder and is subleasing the Ricardo's apartment, and Mario, a gondolier driver the foursome meet in Italy.